Things I Never Thought To Be Grateful For

I was thinking this week that there are a number of things that I find myself being very unexpectedly grateful for:

#1. Poopy diapers. Because his bowels are working. They aren't diseased, they don't have perforations, and he no longer has an ostomy bag. His poop goes in a diaper like normal babies.

#2. Being up at night with a baby. Because I have a baby to be with. It's a privilege and a blessing that I'll never take for granted. Ever.

#3. Being "housebound" with my preemie. Because I don't have to leave my house to visit my baby and I won't be separated from him by the anticipated storms this coming week. I have more time to spend cooking (and eating), and I don't even have to shower every day.

#4. Having a preemie. Because I've been able to love him "in person" much longer than most people. It's been almost 5 months and I still have a newborn. I've gained an appreciation for the fragility and the miracle of life.

#6. A baby crying. Because he isn't on a ventilator that doesn't allow him to cry. He can breathe on his own. He's still so small at 7 pounds that he has retained his "newborn cry" and I know it will be gone all too soon.

#7. Three big, unsightly scars. Because his problems were fixable.

Our thoughts are so often with friends and acquaintances whose babies continue to fight their battles. We pray for the babies we met in the two hospitals as well as a few we have met through our journey online. We pray for those miracle babies every day, that they will be strong and be able to fulfill their individual missions, whatever they may be. We pray for their families, that they will be strengthened and comforted through their successes and disappointments, joys and fears. We pray that they will experience miracles and healing.

We continue to pray for those families whose babies have since returned to our Heavenly Father. We know too many of those. For them, we pray that they be able to find peace in their hearts as they go on. I love a quote that I found on a blog a few months ago, from a mommy who lost her angel too soon. It says "When you have someone you love in Heaven, You have a little bit of Heaven in your home."

There have been a lot of big events this month in our little circle of .... I don't even know what to call us. Some very happy and some very upsetting. I've been eating a lot of chocolate lately, both of the celebratory and comfort varieties. We love these little babies so much, even the ones we've not been able to love in person.